High Seeds Hold True in GNAC Women's Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASHUA, N.H. - The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team advanced to their 14th consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals this evening with a three set win over eighth seeded Mount Ida College at the Muldoon Gymnasium. With the win, Rivier is now 27-5 overall on the season and Mount Ida slides to 12-18 on the year.

The Raiders were victorious by scores of 25-9, 25-18 and 25-14.

Junior Lauren Silverman (Chelmsford, Mass.) powered the offensive attack for the Raider as she hammered down 12 kills, recorded a .556 hitting percentage and totaled five blocks. Senior Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, Calif.) helped direct the offense with 28 assists while sophomore liberoBethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) collected 11 digs along the back line. Junior Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) added six kills and seven digs with senior Jackie Pisecco(Chelmsford, Mass.) providing six kills in the three set win.

Mount Ida was led by sophomore Mary Kate Reidy (Agawam, Mass.), who totaled five kills and five digs. Senior setter Taylor Davis (Machiasport, Maine) dished out 13 assists and classmate Kelcey Koolman (Bedford, N.H.) had eight digs in the Mustangs' final game of the season.

Next up for the Raiders, as they look to three-peat as GNAC Tournament Champions, will be #4 Emmanuel College on Thursday night. The GNAC Semifinal contest will take place at 7pm inside the Muldoon Gymnasium.

Courtesy of Rivier Athletics Communications.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Continuing the best season for the Johnson & Wales University volleyball team since 2010, the Wildcats cruised to a first round victory in the GNAC Tournament. Second-seeded JWU eliminated seventh-seeded Lasell College from the GNAC Tournament with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19) victory on Tuesday at the Wildcat Center.

Records:
Johnson & Wales: 21-7
Lasell: 11-23 

The Lead:
In less than a week, Johnson & Wales and Lasell met on the court and both times the results were the same. The Wildcats had a solid all-around match, outhitting the Lasers .280-.163 as well as holding a 53-38 advantage in digs.

Of Note:
For the fourth year in a row, Johnson & Wales will make a semifinal appearance in the GNAC Tournament. Last season, the Wildcats moved on to the tournament finals where they dropped a 3-1 decision to Rivier.

Freshman Nastasia Kapustin (West Nyack, NY) led all players with a match-high 13 kills. It's the third-match in a row that the outside hitter has posted double-digit kills. She had 11 against the Lasers in last Friday's regular-season match.

Nearly all of the Wildcats' 37 kills came from three players as Emily Kalmink (Byron City, Mich.) had 10 kills and junior Starsha Tunstall (East Providence, RI) was next at nine. Kalmink also had four aces and three blocks.

Five different players had five or more digs, led by senior Paula Cadavid (Pawtucket, RI) and freshman Monica Cordova (Jersey City, NJ) with 10 apiece.

In the first and third set the Wildcats got off to fast starts thanks to strong serving. In the second set, the Lasers jumped out to a 9-5 advantage, but serving runs from Tunstall and Cadavid swung the lead JWU's way, 16-14, then a pair of Kalmink aces pushed the lead to 21-15.

JWU Statistical Leaders:
Kellen Tensen: 33 Assists, 4 Digs
Nastasia Kapustin: 13 Kills, 4 Digs
Emily Kalmink: 10 Kills, 4 Aces, 3 Digs, 3 Blocks

Coachspeak:
"I thought we served well. We had a serving game plan and we executed it perfectly. We took them out of what they wanted to do offensively. On the flipside, I thought it was one of our better serve-receive performances. We didn't allow them to go on any runs and we didn't get stuck in a particular rotation."    -JWU Head Coach Nancy Somera

Up Next:
Johnson & Wales is back in action on Thursday when they play host to Saint Joseph's of Maine in the GNAC Semifinals. The Wildcats beat the Monks, 3-0, on October 17. 

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

STANDISH, Maine - #3 Saint Joseph's College (27-5) rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat #6 Simmons College (9-18), 3-2 (24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 25-17, 15-9) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinal match at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening.

THE LEAD
Saint Joseph's trailed after the first and third sets but managed to withhold a Simmons comeback in the fourth set, forcing a deciding fifth frame in the process. The outlook was bleak midway through the final set as the Sharks owned a 9-5 advantage after an unforced SJC error, but senior Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) took over from there, as the fourth-year starter registered a pair of kills and 2.5 blocks during a 10-0 Saint Joseph's run that saw the hosts claim a 15-9 win and five-set triumph.

Wachowiak led the Monks with 12 kills, seven total blocks and a career-high 14 digs in what was the program's first GNAC Tournament victory in nine years as a member of the conference.

With the win, Saint Joseph's moves on to the semifinals and will face second-seeded Johnson & Wales University, which swept #7 Lasell College in other GNAC quarterfinal action tonight, in Providence on Thursday night.

The loss signals the end of the 2015 campaign for the Simmons College Sharks.

NOTABLES – Saint Joseph's

• Huntley contributed six kills and 17 digs
• Senior Alli Hollander (Thermal, Calif.) posted four kills and five digs
• Gosselin added three kills and 20 digs and became the fifth Saint Joseph's player to reach the 1,000-dig plateau in tonight's win
• Senior Abbie McPhee (Epping, N.H.) chipped in with 20 digs
• Hebert boasted 25 assists, 12 digs and three total blocks
• Wachowiak became the first player in program history to notch 400 kills in a single season – she entered tonight's play requiring nine kills to reach the plateau

NOTABLES – Simmons

• Junior outside hitter Cailin Fredrickson (Columbia, Md.) tallied seven kills, 18 digs and a pair of service aces
• Alberghini added seven kills, three digs and three total blocks
• Junior middle hitter Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) posted six kills, three digs and three block solos
• Guillotte contributed three aces and a team-high 20 digs
• Junior setter Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) netted s4 assists and 17 digs
• Sophomore middle blocker Amber Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev.) chipped in with three kills and 15 digs

TEAM STATS
Saint Joseph's held the advantage in digs (110-101) and total blocks (10-8) while Simmons led the way in kills (30-27) and assists (28-27) on the evening. The Monks posted a .033 hitting percentage in the victory while the Sharks recorded a negative .056 rate, with 40 attack errors in the loss.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-5 all-time versus Simmons College, a team the Monks defeated by a 3-1 margin at the Alfond Center on Saturday. The Sharks defeated the Monks by the same 3-2 score the last time Saint Joseph's hosted a postseason match, a quarterfinal bout on November 5, 2013. With Tuesday's win, the 2015 Monks tie the program's single-season victories record. The 1995 team, led by former Head Coach John Razsa, went 27-10.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.

BOSTON, Mass. - The No. 4 Emmanuel College women's volleyball team swept the No. 5 Anna Maria College AMCATS, 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-21), in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) volleyball tournament on Tuesday evening at the Emmanuel College Gymnasium.

The Saints improve to 12-15 overall and advance to take on top-seeded Rivier on Thursday in the semifinals, while the AMCATS season comes to an end with a 17-15 overall record.

Emmanuel took advantage of Anna Maria's .035 hitting percentage en route to winning both sets by double digits. The Saints tallied 24 kills in the first two sets, while making just six errors. 

Anna Maria battled back in the third set, taking a 9-6 lead, but the Saints took control for good at 15-14 on a kill by freshman Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.). The lead would be extended to 18-14 thanks in part to two service aces from junior Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.).

The Saints posted a hitting percentage of .205, tallying 36 kills and just 13 errors in the match. Chruscielski and senior captain Danielle Rose (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) shared the team lead with seven kills, while senior captain Brittany Tutalo(Johnston, R.I.) chipped in with five kills and three aces. Rose earned the 500th kill of her career in the second set of the match.

Senior captain Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, Calif.) dished out 31 assists and recorded 11 digs. Freshman Katharine Journeay (Hampton, N.H.) also finished with 11 digs for the hosts. 

The AMCATS got the score back to 21-21, but they would not score another point, as the Saints strung together four points to end the set and the match.

Senior Samantha Parker (Athol, Mass.) led the AMCATS with 21 assists and also added 11 digs. Freshman Amari King (Lawrence, Mass.) tallied 12 kills and 13 digs for the visitors.

As a team, the AMCATS totaled 25 errors and 29 kills for a .035 hitting percentage.

The Saints advance to the GNAC semifinals where they will face unbeaten Rivier on Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m.

Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletics Communications.

Tuesday, November 3 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #1 Rivier 3, #8 Mount Ida 0 | BOX
Game 2: #4 Emmanuel 3, #5 Anna Maria 0 | BOX
Game 3: #3 Saint Joseph's Maine 3, #6 Simmons 2 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Johnson & Wales 3, #7 Lasell 0 | BOX

Thursday, November 5 - Semifinals
Game 5: #4 Emmanuel vs. #1 Rivier - 7:00 p.m.
Game 6: #3 Saint Joseph's Maine vs. #2 Johnson & Wales - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 7 - Championship
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner